LITERATURE-LIGHT AND DELIGHT
84. GUIDES ALONG THE WAY
In classic Tamil literature of the Sangam Age, we have a phenomenon. The poet, person of learning, is usually poor; he is always in search of a patron. On the way, he meets another such poet, who is returning from such a patron, rich with gifts! The second person tells him the great qualities of the patron, and gives him directions to reach his place, to which our poet then gladly proceeds. This is a genre called "Aatruppadai".
Incidentally, why should learned poets be poor? Those days, learning was not a means to earning! It was an end by itself. Tiruvalluvar goes a step further and says it has always been so: In a couplet under the head 'Destiny' he says: The world falls into two categories which are mutually exclusive- worldly riches are one thing, saintliness quite another. Kural-374.( A man of learning was automatically expected to be a man of saintly character those days.)
This indicates a general rule that only those who have first hand knowledge can guide others. This is held especially valid in spiritual matters. Mere philosophical instruction does not count, or theoretical exposition. The teacher has to rely on his own realisation.
In modern times, Sri Ramakrishna used to explain this very simply. Only those with personal experience can guide others. He used to show a log floating on the water, which would sink the moment a crow sat on it; yet boats and ships ferry hundred of people! It is only the man with experiential knowledge who can take others across. How can the blind lead the blind?
Appropriately the greatest Aatruppadai work in Tamil is one where the Poet-Sage directs a questing devotee to the abodes of Lord Muruga or Subrahmanya! The devout Tamil people placed this at the head of all their Classical collections! Fear (Love?) of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom!
From mind to something greater!
Among the poets, we find two categories: those that operate from the mind and appeal to the mind and those that appeal to a deeper faculty. Human mind is fickle- we keep changing our ideas and opinions. So, the appeal to the mind cannot be long-lasting. The reason why classical poetry is still read, in spite of the huge modern literature that gets so much publicity ( but quickly disappears), is that their appeal is to a faculty in us which does not change.
Such poetry need not necessarily be 'religious' or even 'metaphysical', as they are classified. In fact, most such poetry is just statement of some particular dogma or doctrine. What we have in mind is poetry that touches our heart, stirs something deep in us and sets us on a course to seek our own truth! Writing on the 'metaphysical poets', whose works are "more often read than profitably studied", T.S.Eliot wrote:
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T.S.Eliot Photo by Lady Ottoline Morrell.jpg
Public domain.
So, a poet experiences a 'wholeness' where the common man perceives but disparate things or events! This is what he is trying to convey through poetry! Where the poet's experience is confined to a mental perception, the result is short-lived.; where the poet's own experience has been deeper, the effect on the reader is longer,and stronger.
This is what we might call 'philosophical', without meaning any specific school or system. In its primary sense, it means nothing more than thinking-even wondering- about the meaning of existence. Whatever we may believe in, or think as true, it becomes our philosophy, often held as opinion; when expressed in our action and behaviour, it becomes our philosophy of life. In this sense, all of us are philosophical, except when we become hypocritical.
Philosophy but gives us a perspective : how to make sense out of life. The ultimately philosophical person accepts life as it comes. The reformer tries to remove the perceived imperfections in the world; the philosopher looks at his own perceptions! The ultimate moral or religious philosopher, like the Buddha or a Marcus Aurelius would go to the extent of saying that you can only control your mind, not the world, so the real reform is of our own mind or perception. Poets do reach such sublime heights, though not all of them, or at all times.
Beauty, Truth, Good!
An artist is taken up with the idea of Beauty, a philosopher , with Truth or the Good. But a poet sees that one, perfectly realised, involves the other two, too!
He that loves a rosy cheek,
Or a coral lip admires,
Or from star-like eyes doth seek
Fuel to maintain his fires;
As old time makes these decay,
So his flames must waste away.
But a smooth and steadfast mind,
Gentle thoughts,calm desires,
Hearts with equal love combined,
Kindle never-dying fires.
Where these are not, I despise
Lovely cheeks, or lips, or eyes.
-Thomas Carew: Disdain Returned, 1640.
This is the poet's way; a serious philosopher would put it starkly, refusing to see real beauty in the flesh:
Naari stanabhara naabhi desham
Drushva maa gaa mohavesham;
Yae tan maamsa vasaadi vikhaaram
Manasi vichintaya vaaram vaaram.
Don't get intoxicated, looking at the beauteous breasts and the mid-region of a woman. If you think, you will see that these are but modifications of flesh and fat.
Sankaracharya: Bhajagovindam.
But poets sometimes express extreme religious thoughts. Where this happens across languages and cultures and temperaments, and separated by centuries and thousands of miles , we are struck with wonder.In the orthodox Hindu circles, the Sri Rudram from the ancient Veda occupies a unique and exalted place, indispensable in daily devotions. It conceives of the Lord as consisting of everything in the world, including its thieves and robbers, and prays to him to put aside his weapons and bless the devotee.
Meedushama shivatama shivo na:sumanaa bhava
Parame vruksha aayudham nidhaaya krittim vasaana:
Aachara pinakam bibhradaa gahi
O Lord, of the form of Absolute Auspiciousness!
Excellent in granting our desires!
Please keep your weapons on that high tree,yonder.
Please approach us , wearing the tiger skin, bearing your great bow, Pinakam, as an ornament.
Please become disposed to confer blessings on us.
See how George Herbert, 17th century British poet, sings of the same sentiments, in more or less the same words!
Discipline
Throw away thy rod,
Throw away thy wrath:
O my God,
Take the gentle path.
For my heart's desire
Unto thine is bent:
I aspire
To a full consent.
Throw away thy rod;
Though man frailties hath
Thou art God:
Throw away thy wrath.
Religion, Philosophy, and Beyond!
These are really tricky matters. Can we not be 'religious' without following or subscribing to an organised religion formally? Can we not be 'philosophical' without accepting any of the commonly known ones? I think the great poets prepare us by slow degrees to reach such a position. Most of us are born in a faith, a cult, a tradition. But we can learn to outgrow it, without losing our roots.When we get a hint that the world of senses is not all, and that a greater reality pervades and animates it, we have become sufficiently religious and philosophical. What remains is only to express it in action. People do it their own way, but overall, there is a basic unity: that of belonging to something greater than ourselves, of being part of something Universal. As George Chapman wrote:
........in this one thing, all the discipline
Of manners and of manhood is contained;
A man to join himself with th' Universe
In his main sway, and make in all things fit
One with that All, and go on, round as it;
Not plucking from the whole his wretched part,
And into straits , or into nought revert,
Wishing the complete Universe might be
Subject to such a rag of it as he;
But to consider great Necessity.
From the play: The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois,1613, quoted by T.S.Eliot in his essay on the metaphysical poets.
From mind to something greater!
Among the poets, we find two categories: those that operate from the mind and appeal to the mind and those that appeal to a deeper faculty. Human mind is fickle- we keep changing our ideas and opinions. So, the appeal to the mind cannot be long-lasting. The reason why classical poetry is still read, in spite of the huge modern literature that gets so much publicity ( but quickly disappears), is that their appeal is to a faculty in us which does not change.
Such poetry need not necessarily be 'religious' or even 'metaphysical', as they are classified. In fact, most such poetry is just statement of some particular dogma or doctrine. What we have in mind is poetry that touches our heart, stirs something deep in us and sets us on a course to seek our own truth! Writing on the 'metaphysical poets', whose works are "more often read than profitably studied", T.S.Eliot wrote:
"When a poet's mind is perfectly equipped for its work, it is constantly amalgamating disparate experience; the ordinary man's experience is chaotic, irregular, fragmentary. The latter falls in love, or reads Spinoza, and these two experiences have nothing to do with each other , or with the noise of the typewriter or the smell of cooking; in the mind of the poet these experiences are always forming new wholes."
T.S.Eliot Photo by Lady Ottoline Morrell.jpg
Public domain.
So, a poet experiences a 'wholeness' where the common man perceives but disparate things or events! This is what he is trying to convey through poetry! Where the poet's experience is confined to a mental perception, the result is short-lived.; where the poet's own experience has been deeper, the effect on the reader is longer,and stronger.
This is what we might call 'philosophical', without meaning any specific school or system. In its primary sense, it means nothing more than thinking-even wondering- about the meaning of existence. Whatever we may believe in, or think as true, it becomes our philosophy, often held as opinion; when expressed in our action and behaviour, it becomes our philosophy of life. In this sense, all of us are philosophical, except when we become hypocritical.
Philosophy but gives us a perspective : how to make sense out of life. The ultimately philosophical person accepts life as it comes. The reformer tries to remove the perceived imperfections in the world; the philosopher looks at his own perceptions! The ultimate moral or religious philosopher, like the Buddha or a Marcus Aurelius would go to the extent of saying that you can only control your mind, not the world, so the real reform is of our own mind or perception. Poets do reach such sublime heights, though not all of them, or at all times.
Beauty, Truth, Good!
An artist is taken up with the idea of Beauty, a philosopher , with Truth or the Good. But a poet sees that one, perfectly realised, involves the other two, too!
He that loves a rosy cheek,
Or a coral lip admires,
Or from star-like eyes doth seek
Fuel to maintain his fires;
As old time makes these decay,
So his flames must waste away.
But a smooth and steadfast mind,
Gentle thoughts,calm desires,
Hearts with equal love combined,
Kindle never-dying fires.
Where these are not, I despise
Lovely cheeks, or lips, or eyes.
-Thomas Carew: Disdain Returned, 1640.
This is the poet's way; a serious philosopher would put it starkly, refusing to see real beauty in the flesh:
Naari stanabhara naabhi desham
Drushva maa gaa mohavesham;
Yae tan maamsa vasaadi vikhaaram
Manasi vichintaya vaaram vaaram.
Don't get intoxicated, looking at the beauteous breasts and the mid-region of a woman. If you think, you will see that these are but modifications of flesh and fat.
Sankaracharya: Bhajagovindam.
But poets sometimes express extreme religious thoughts. Where this happens across languages and cultures and temperaments, and separated by centuries and thousands of miles , we are struck with wonder.In the orthodox Hindu circles, the Sri Rudram from the ancient Veda occupies a unique and exalted place, indispensable in daily devotions. It conceives of the Lord as consisting of everything in the world, including its thieves and robbers, and prays to him to put aside his weapons and bless the devotee.
Meedushama shivatama shivo na:sumanaa bhava
Parame vruksha aayudham nidhaaya krittim vasaana:
Aachara pinakam bibhradaa gahi
O Lord, of the form of Absolute Auspiciousness!
Excellent in granting our desires!
Please keep your weapons on that high tree,yonder.
Please approach us , wearing the tiger skin, bearing your great bow, Pinakam, as an ornament.
Please become disposed to confer blessings on us.
See how George Herbert, 17th century British poet, sings of the same sentiments, in more or less the same words!
Discipline
Throw away thy rod,
Throw away thy wrath:
O my God,
Take the gentle path.
For my heart's desire
Unto thine is bent:
I aspire
To a full consent.
Throw away thy rod;
Though man frailties hath
Thou art God:
Throw away thy wrath.
Religion, Philosophy, and Beyond!
These are really tricky matters. Can we not be 'religious' without following or subscribing to an organised religion formally? Can we not be 'philosophical' without accepting any of the commonly known ones? I think the great poets prepare us by slow degrees to reach such a position. Most of us are born in a faith, a cult, a tradition. But we can learn to outgrow it, without losing our roots.When we get a hint that the world of senses is not all, and that a greater reality pervades and animates it, we have become sufficiently religious and philosophical. What remains is only to express it in action. People do it their own way, but overall, there is a basic unity: that of belonging to something greater than ourselves, of being part of something Universal. As George Chapman wrote:
........in this one thing, all the discipline
Of manners and of manhood is contained;
A man to join himself with th' Universe
In his main sway, and make in all things fit
One with that All, and go on, round as it;
Not plucking from the whole his wretched part,
And into straits , or into nought revert,
Wishing the complete Universe might be
Subject to such a rag of it as he;
But to consider great Necessity.
From the play: The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois,1613, quoted by T.S.Eliot in his essay on the metaphysical poets.
